1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a concrete finishing tool which allows a user to adjust the angle of a concrete finishing float as it is being pulled towards or pushed away from the user.
2. Background Discussion
It is frequently necessary to use a cement finishing float for the purposes of providing a smooth finish to large slabs of concrete or to establish a wet cement surface gradient. It is desirable that such tools be provided with a means for tilting the float work face from the remote end of a handle connected to the float to facilitate the forward pushing and backward pulling of the float as it moves over the wet soft cement surface. Long reach floats are necessary as it is undesirable to walk over an unset cement surface since to do so would disturb the natural settling and separation processes associated with cement curing.
The prior art discloses a number of devices for tilting the float relative to the handle. However, typically such devices are complicated and cumbersome to operate and often are ineffective. The devices also suffer disadvantages such as susceptibility to wear, difficulty of maintenance, and torque problems associated with the use of long handled shafts.
In particular, the Chiuchiarelli U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,481 discloses an extremely complicated device, which because it has internally located slots, is especially susceptible to wear and difficulty of maintenance. In between uses wet cement which collected during use hardens and binds the spirally slotted mechanism. Cleaning of the slots is made very difficult because the internally located slots are not fully accessible without disassembly of the tilting mechanism. If operation of the tilting mechanism is attempted when it is bound with or soiled by hardened cement set up in the internally located slots, damage to the wear surfaces quickly results.